King’s Cross in Gotham

Just outside the new entrance to King’s Cross station in London, the shiny red hoardings concealing the construction work have been dotted with foot-high snowflake transfers since the beginning of December, writes Anne-Marie Conway.

More of the same, this time in 3D, decorate the ‘boulevard’ that leads to the University of the Arts.

Exterior snowflakes made from PVC foamex. Photography: John Sturrock.

Yet on closer inspection, these large baubles reveal themselves to be festive wreaths of letters. In Gotham – the celebrated typeface designed by Tobias Frere-Jones. (See ‘Forensic types’, Eye 54.)

All the snowflakes are made from the letters in the name ‘King’s Cross’ – subtle branding for this once less salubrious neighbourhood.

The installation is entitled Abstracted Snowflakes, designed by Catherine Borowski and Philip Cooper for Produce UK.

A typographic Christmas to one and all.

For information about events in the King’s Cross ‘mini winter wonderland’, which runs until 5 January 2013, follow @kingscrossn1c on Twitter.

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